Life is Confusion
by Anycents
Summary: This is where I will put short One Piece works. Named after something Rayleigh once said, I think it sums up one of the main themes of the series rather nicely. - Chap 1: Homecoming Tour: Reindeer Edition (Chopper, Usopp) - Chap 2: It's important to Remember (Robin, Usopp) - Chap 3: It's Not Just the Thought That Counts (Nami, money, some Zoro and Luffy)
1. Homecoming Tour: Reindeer Edition

**Homecoming Tour: Reindeer Edition**

 **In which Chopper realizes that not only do they need him, they might actually want him too.**

* * *

Chopper leans on the Merry's back railing watching until the snow blossoms and his home have sunk below the horizon. When he eventually he looks around everyone else has moved off. What should do now? He doesn't want to bother anyone, they're probably all busy.

He peeks uncertainly around the Mikan trees that screen the back of the ship. The one who smells like chemicals and gun powder is sitting at a small bench with a head lamp. Whatever he's messing with is making Chopper's nose burn even from several paces away.

The curly haired human looks up at the clop of hooves momentary blinding Chopper with his lamp.

"Oh, sorry," He takes the lamp off his head and sets it on the table. The light rolls around giving an ominous under cast to his face. Chopper steps back and tries to hide behind the trees.

The young man tilts his head, "No need to hide…or whatever it is you're doing."

He stands up brushing his hands on his pants, "Not sure if you caught it with all the running around," he squares his narrow shoulders, "so let me introduce myself," he lifts his long nose and points dramatically up at the sky declaiming, "I am the Great Captain Usopp best sharp shooter and story teller on the six seas!"

Chopper forgets to hide his face in the foliage and straightens up, "Really!"

"But you can just call me Usopp," the man adds graciously reaching a hand out toward Chopper.

It occurs to Chopper that he's never introduced himself to anyone before. Dr. Hiluluk took him in, named him and introduced him to Dr. Kureha. She, in turn, had introduced him to others, though they'd all thought he was pet.

Well, time to be an adult. Chopper walks over and reaches out a hoof to shake, "I'm Tony Tony Chopper," he hesitates over how to describe himself, "A doctor and a reindeer. But you can call me Chopper."

Usopp smiles at that combination and for a moment Chopper thinks he will laugh, but he only crouches to put a stopper on the bottle he was using and then straightens up waving for his new crewmate to follow, "Come on, I'll show you where you can put your stuff."

Usopp shows him down the hatch in the main deck that leads to the men's quarters.

He points to the hammocks hooked to the ceiling, "One left just for you." They go over to a large storage cabinet anchored to the wall. When Usopp opens it up Chopper sees that the left side is mostly taken up with hanging suits. The right side has shelves; each male crew member seems to have claimed their own slot with a few changes of clothes and personal items. Despite the small space, the lowest is empty.

Usopp rubs his chin, "Huh, I wonder who thought to make Luffy move his 'cool stuff' collection," He taps the empty shelf, "Well, looks like this one's yours."

All Chopper has are a couple pairs of shorts that were on top of the bag Dr. Kureha put in the sled, but he folds them and places them neatly in his designated space. It seems like a really big deal. He rests his hoof on the shelf for a few moments before shaking himself out of it.

He lifts the medical bag and explains apologetically, "I need to sort through the rest of this before I put it away."

Usopp nods and turns toward the ladder that leads back up to the deck, "Let's go up to the kitchen. You can use the table up there."

As they climb up the ladder Usopp explains, "The rooms off the main deck are both storage, the bathroom is through the back storage room. Though, really, if you have to pee it's better to just go off the back of the ship, it saves on having to pump up more water for the plumbing."

Chopper nods in understanding, before Usopp continues, "Just make sure Nami and Vivi aren't around or Nami'll thump you."

Nami's head appears over the hatch causing Usopp to start and nearly fall off the ladder, "I'm fine with you guys doing that. I just don't want to have to see it."

"Well, that's why I'm warning him," Usopp defends, "I don't think he has any money to pay the fine," Chopper whimpers in concern, but Usopp is already climbing out, so he scrambles to catch up.

When he reaches the main deck he looks around, he can see all but the back part of the upper deck from here. Nami is heading into the back storage room. The swordsman is asleep against the side rail still wearing the heavy coat he stole from one of Wapol's soldiers. Luffy is perched on the figurehead of the ship and Vivi is leaning on the rail next to him smiling and laughing as Luffy energetically tells a story that involves lots of yelling and punching. He's probably recounting the fights she missed earlier that day.

"Anyway," Usopp points toward the rear deck, "The kitchen is the main place to stay when we all need to be inside or have a meeting. Especially on cold days, the stove helps keep it warm."

When they enter Sanji is at the counter preparing a late meal. They missed dinner what with all the fleeing.

Usopp sits down to watch as Chopper climbs up on the table's bench and loosens the drawstrings on the bag.

On top are packets and bottles of medical supplies. There's plenty of disinfectant, antibiotics, and pain killers as well as smaller packets of medicine that are not as commonly used, but which would be vital if the need arose.

Under the packets are some cases containing equipment. There are a few common diagnostic tools including a stethoscope, thermometer, and head lamp. On the bottom of the bag he finds needles, forceps, scalpels, suture thread, and even a small saw. Tools he might need to perform emergency procedures.

Usopp starts to sweat a bit as Chopper pulls these items from his bag and arranges them on the table. He's probably imagining, or remembering, the circumstances that would call for such equipment.

The sniper tries to rally, "I did pretty good job fixing Zoro up with just alcohol and bandages," he gestures at the tools, "but it'll be great to finally have someone who knows how to use those."

"You did what?!" Chopper cries. Sanji snorts, but doesn't comment.

Usopp gulps, realizing Zoro probably won't appreciate him sharing this information, but it's not like Chopper wouldn't eventually see, what with the man's tendency to practice without a shirt.

"Well, there was this warlord named Mihawk…," Chopper gives him an impatient look, "Um, Zoro got a pretty bad cut on his chest, we were kind of in the middle of a fight with this other guy, so I just cleaned it with alcohol and wrapped a bunch of bandages around it."

Chopper's jaw has pretty much hit the table during this ramble. Usopp tries to redeem his confession, "He got it stitched up by a doctor later," then ruins it by adding, "After we finished fighting Arlong…"

Chopper closes his eyes for a second and rubs the bridge of his muzzle with his hoof. He's obviously going to have to check up on the swordsman later, but first he wants to know what he has to work with. He takes a calming breath, "Is there cloth to make bandages and pads? What other medical supplies are on board?"

"Over there," Usopp points to the supplies stacked against the wall. There's a box on top of the pile that's about the same size as chopper's backpack with a red cross on it. Chopper hops off the bench and climbs up a couple crates in order to reach.

It's stuffed full of rolled bandages with a single bottle of aspirin on top. Chopper's fur stands on end; he's already seen how much trouble this lot can get into, "How are you all still alive!?"

Then he has a horrible thought, "You are all still alive right?!" He's already preparing to feel retroactively guilty for not being there when he was needed.

"We're not that easy to kill," Sanji asserts without turning around from where he is flipping vegetables and beef in a wok.

Chopper stops and takes another deep breath, Sanji has a point. He still he can't help letting his ears droop and some despondency leak into his voice, "But is this really all you have?"

After a few moments of uncomfortable silence Usopp reluctantly answers, "Well, Nami has a sewing kit," Chopper crosses his arms and taps a hoof on the crate knowing he won't like what he's about to hear, "Vivi used it to sew Zoro's ankles back together after he tried to cut himself free of a trap."

"Yeah, by cutting his feet off," Sanji adds drily as he turns to start scooping rice into bowls.

"Whaaat?!" Chopper jumps off the crate and runs over to tug on the leg of the cook's suit while pleading, "Please tell me that's not true!"

Sanji looks down and grins around his cigarette, "I can tell you and the moss head are going to get along great."

"Says the guy who went out to fight with a dislocated spine earlier today," Usopp feels the need to point out.

Chopper thumps his head against Sanji's leg in despair, "And let's not forgets the one who climbed a mile high _frozen_ cliff in shorts and sandals," he sighs, "You're all idiots."

Usopp laughs and Sanji frowns at being grouped in with Zoro and Luffy intelligence wise.

Sanji jabs his cigarette at Usopp, "You've nearly died _at least_ as many times as I have!"

Usopp grins at this rejoinder, "And let's see," he rubs his chin in ostentatious thought, "Nami once stabbed herself in the hand to save my life. And Vivi, well besides getting shot a couple days ago, she _is_ trying to take down a warlord, so it's actually pretty surprising she's gotten by relatively unscathed so far."

He crosses his arms and lifts his nose proudly, "So, we're all idiots together."

In response Sanji just snorts a laugh before turning to finish prepping the food. His head is bowed, but Chopper can see he is smiling a bit. Usopp leans back against the table appearing satisfied with himself.

In the moment of silence that follows Chopper is struck by how _right_ this all feels. He experiences a spike of protectiveness and hope so sharp it is actually painful.

In his herd the weak were pushed to the edges so that predators would eat them first while the rest fled.

As a hybrid both sides feared him and drove him away completely except for those two wonderful exceptions, Dr. Hiruluk and Dr. Kureha.

Through helping the doctors, he had seen the nature of the beings that constituted the most dangerous predators on the island. The villagers protected the vulnerable among them in a way that his herd had never bothered to so, even after the violence with which the humans had rejected him, he couldn't quite bring himself to hate them.

But that didn't change that he had to hide his nature in order to be safe.

But here he is, hooves and antlers, talking and wearing clothes, and these two are chatting and teasing him as if it is the most natural thing in the world.

Chopper stiffens his spine and backs up a couple steps so he can point a shaking hoof at each of his new crew mates, "You bastards!"

Usopp and Sanji look at him expectantly as he wipes some moisture from the corners of his eyes, "I will keep you all alive no matter how hard you make it for me! And don't you forget it!"

* * *

 **Thank you for reading :)**


	2. It's Important to Remember

**It's Important to Remember**

 **Dressrosa wants to remember its saviors. Usopp is more worried about what he forgot.**

 _ **Spoiler Warning: This story takes place at the end of the Dressrosa arc**_

* * *

The island of Dressrosa rises sharply from the sea as series of cave riddled red rock plateaus. About half way up to the tallest plateau, where the King's Palace rests, is a field of sunflowers. In the center of this field is a cabin built from river stones. Inside this cabin's single room, sprawled on every flat space, exhausted pirates are still resting up after having saved the whole island from being cut up like a cake.

Kin'emon and Kanjuro have just left to the morning market in town to pick up food. Franky is finishing up repairs on his face while chatting quietly with Robin while she uses extra arms to make coffee in the small kitchen area at the back of the cabin. Luffy, Zoro, Usopp, Law, Kyros, and Bellamy are sprawled over most of the floor space, passed out.

Someone knocks firmly on the door three times and calls out, "Hello?"

Robin turns her attention to the door, but before she can do anything Luffy, still mostly asleep, stretches his arm to grab the door handle. Once he's anchored, he snaps over to the door while opening it at the same time.

Their visitor, a middle-aged man in a tweed suit and well-groomed except for an excessively bushy beard, reacts to Luffy's sudden appearance less than an arm's length away by yelping and lifting the box he is carrying over his head to protect it from being struck.

Luffy blinks sleepily and closes most of the small remaining space between them by stretching his neck to get a closer look at the box. A grin breaks out on Luffy's face as he turns his attention to the man who is staring at him in surprise. Although normally the visitor would be a good half foot taller than Luffy, at the moment they are the same height. They lock eyes and silence reigns for a couple seconds while everyone waits to see what will happen.

"Is that a present!?" Luffy suddenly asks excitedly and the man starts, jumping back slightly and losing his balance on the step. As he starts to tip backwards Luffy grabs the box, leaving the tweed suited man to flail and fall on his ass in the dust.

"Luffy!" Usopp admonishes while jumping up from the floor to check on their visitor.

The captain looks confused, "But the box is more important." He starts to look the container over with interest even though from the outside it's just an ordinary crate.

Usopp opens his mouth to say something more as he reaches to help the older man to his feet, but the man interrupts him, "No, Mr. Luffy is right, there's forty eight hours straight of work in there, so you see – Please Don't Turn It Upside Down!" He lunges forward and puts his hand under the edge of the box to prevent Luffy from doing just that.

Usopp takes the box from Luffy and moves to put it on the plank wood table sitting in the middle of the little one room space while the man starts to dust himself off.

Before he has taken more than two steps a hand sprouts out of the box making a stop gesture and Robin steps into view of the door, arms in an X over her chest, "Sir, I would like to know how you knew where we've been staying." Her tone suggests casual curiosity, but when Usopp looks back he sees that, as expected, extra arms have sprouted from the man's shoulders.

As Usopp crouches to carefully place the box on the floor, the man stutters and speaks quickly, "I…I'm sorry to visit unannounced Mrs. Nico Robin, but I wasn't sure how long you'll be staying a…and I wanted the approval of the city's saviors for a project the king…King Riku, of course! has commissioned." He stops to take a breath, "His majesty is the one who informed me of your location."

The visitor straightens up and gives a half bow, one arm behind his back, "My name is Gaurish. I was the city's head architect before the usurper invaded and disrupted our lovely kingdom. Much of Dressrosa's distinctive style is due to my work" a pained look crosses over the man's face, "or rather 'was' due to my work."

The sincere regret in the man's expression as he references the city's recent rearrangement, or perhaps his apparent harmlessness, convinces Robin to uncross her arms so that her extra limbs dissipate. "If you are in charge of restoring the city then, sadly, you have your work cut out for you Mr. Gaurish," She gestures to the box, "but what kind of project requires the advice of pirates in order to be completed?"

The man, who must be at least in his late forties, grins like a kid, "Let me show you!" He quickly picks up the box and moves to set it on the plank table.

Law, Kyros, and Bellamy, who all woke up when the visitor knocked, stand up and stretch themselves the rest of the way awake. Zoro, who slept through everything else, snorts and opens his eye disinterestedly at the sound of the box being unlatched.

Gaurish rests a hand on the box and eyes Luffy warily for a moment before explaining carefully, "The items in this box are made of clay, if they are handled roughly they will break and my hard work will be ruined."

Luffy nods and sits down on the table's bench sideways, leaning forward on his hands.

The architect nods, opens the box, and starts to unpack the objects he has brought with him, clay figures of Luffy, Usopp, Kyros, Zoro, Law, Franky and Robin. Gaurish finishes setting the figures out and looks up expectantly. Everyone moves a little closer in the tight space in order to see. Even Zoro has gotten up and is standing impassively toward the back.

Luffy looks a little disappointed as the man finishes emptying the box, "They look cool, but what good are action figures you can't play with?" He asks as he sticks a finger up his nose.

The architect's expectant look fades into exasperation. "They're maquettes!" he exclaims as if that will explain anything. Everyone just continues stare at him, either because they still don't get it or because they do and are hoping this will be one more the amusing episodes of 'Explaining Things to Luffy.'

Gaurish gives Luffy a measuring look and takes a deep breath and gestures to the figures, "I want to make big versions of these out of marble to go in the plaza soon to be renamed 'Savior's Square' at the base of the king's plateau. But I want to make sure you like them first."

Luffy gets stars in his eyes, "Ohhhh, A statue! I always wanted one of those!" He pouts, "But Nami always says no."

"But she's not here," Robin points out with amusement.

Usopp mutters at Robins shoulder, "I don't think she'd mind, since they're gifts."

Robins speaks quietly back, "But look how happy he is to be getting away with something." And indeed Luffy has lit up even brighter at the realization that he's not going to be stopped this time.

Robin addresses their visitor, "Well done Mr. Gaurish," the artist puffs up with pride before she adds "the sculptures are also impressive."

The man wrinkles his brow in confusion for a moment before understanding, "Oh, well architects spend a lot of time talking to people with more money than sense, " he demures, "all they really want to know is 'will it look amazing?'"

"It will right?" Luffy asks excitedly.

"Yes," the man smiles and nods confidently. Luffy bounces up and down on the bench, while studying the maquettes more closely.

The figures the artist has brought with him reflect the pirates' recent battles:

Luffy arms crossed and grinning in his arena gear.

Kyros stern faced, hands crossed over his broadsword.

Zoro equally stern with his three swords in the pinwheel stance of Billion-fold Worlds.

Robin serene and confident with her arms crossed in the gesture she uses to fully focus her devil fruit ability.

Law smiling with menace his hand extended to gesture 'Room.'

Franky smirking with his arm raised for 'Weapons Left.'

And Usopp, Black Kabuto in one hand and his other hand shading his eyes as though gauging a distance.

"Where did you get these poses from, Mr. Gaurish?" Robin asks with genuine interest.

The architect explains, "Mr. Luffy was filmed, most of the city saw Mr. Zoro cut down the Pica mountain, and I collected descriptions from other witnesses, particularly the tontatta."

Zoro scoffs from the back with his arms crossed, "its ridiculous making statues of pirates."

"I like mine," Luffy grins.

Zoro huffs and looks directly at the architect before continuing, "But if you're going to insist on it," he uncrosses his arms so he can wave a hand in the general direction of the table, "The grip is wrong."

Everyone turns to look at the swordsman in surprise, but he's focused on the architect. They stare at each other for a couple heartbeats then Gaurish pulls a sketch book out from behind his back and a pencil from inside his coat, "I apologize, could you show me the correct placement for your hands."

Robin breaks in as Zoro starts to reach for Shusui, "Outside please, Zoro, Mr. Gaurish."

After that Garurish talks to each of them in turn, taking notes and sketches to correct the details of the sculptures.

Luffy, Robin, and Kyros are all satisfied with their figures.

Law has the man change the hand sign to a meaningless gesture.

"Why do you want it to be wrong?" Luffy asks as he lies on his back, feet in the air, and crunching his toes so he can slap soles of his feet with his sandals.

Law shrugs, "No reason to give information away for nothing."

"Shishishi, You think too much Torao," Luffy laughs, "that's dumb."

Law responds by pulling his spotted hat down over his eyes and going outside.

Then it's Franky's turn.

"It needs to be more _Suuuper_ ," the shipwright declares, slamming his metal arms together over his head while giving a couple suggestive hip thrusts.

Gaurish blinks a couple times, "Sir?"

"You know, more _Suuuper_ ," same pose but pointing the other way.

The artist opens and closes his mouth a couple times, "Do you…?"

Before Franky can do anything else, like break into a dance routine, Robin touches his arm then turns to the befuddled sculptor, "he wants you to do this pose."

The artist sweats a bit, but dutifully makes sketches, mumbling something about, "maybe they should be from the waist up."

After everyone else is done talking to Gaurish, Usopp stands up from where he's been sitting leaned against the wall. "Let's get some fresh air," the sniper leads the artist out to the edge of the clearing in the sunflower field. From inside the cabin the sharp shooter can be seen talking quietly while waving his hands back and forth in a gesture of refusal.

"But Why?!" the older man exclaims. Usopp quickly shushes him and then continues to talk quietly while rubbing the back of his head and looking down in embarrassment.

Inside the house Robin, who is watching through a window, crosses her arms and uses her power to sprout an ear on the back of Usopp's shoulder.

Gaurish is reassuring Usopp, "You're too modest Sir, the people of Dressrosa, particularly those you saved from Sugar, want to honor you. It's such a small thing in return for what you have done for us."

Usopp slumps a little, but before he can say anything more a crash, perhaps from a table tipping over, comes from inside the cabin.

Gaurish makes an undignified squeaking noise and runs back across the clearing to look in through the cabin door, "Oh thank you Mrs. Robin! You Saved them!"

"No trouble at all Mr. Gaurish," Robin answers graciously.

Luffy's confused voice comes from within, "But Robin you're the one who…Gah!" before abruptly jumping sideways as if he'd been pinched hard on the side.

Just after the man scrambles inside, Robins strolls out and heads toward Usopp. The sniper starts looking quickly back and forth for some excuse to avoid the impending conversation.

"Usopp, don't be so obvious, you're going to hurt my feelings," she chides him.

Usopp freezes and squeaks in embarrassment, then blows out a breath and straightens up to face her directly.

The archeologist gives a small smile at Usopp's consternation, "No need to look so caught out. I'm just curious why you want to refuse the gift they are offering us?"

Robin waits patiently while Usopp looks away and fidgets before answering quietly, "Just trying for a little modesty, I know I get a little carried away sometimes…"

Robin shakes her head at this pseudo explanation, "Doflamingo singled you out and everyone you saved is spreading stories about you. I don't think they will be convinced to let it go."

Usopp rubs a hand over his face, his nose sticking out from between his fingers, "Why did this have to be the time someone actually believed me when I started telling stories? (Besides Luffy and Chopper that is.)"

Robin shakes her head, "Everyone in the warehouse heard your confession and they still followed you afterward. I think we were too relived at being saved to care _how_ it happened."

Usopp puts his hands down and stares at her for a couple seconds before chopping one hand into the palm of the other, "That whole mess in the warehouse _started_ because I let myself get carried away with my bragging to the tontatta." He wilts and gestures at her, "AND THEN when you needed me, I ran off and left you behind."

"You'd forgotten I was there," a shudder runs down Usopp's body as she says this, but Robin holds up a hand and asserts firmly, "that wasn't your fault."

Usopp takes an unsteady breath, "But if Leo and the other tontatta hadn't been so stupidly determined to hold out and forced me to come back and 'save' them…" he trails off, unwilling to finish that thought out loud.

He swallows and scowls at the ground, "It shouldn't have been such a close run thing. You all have so much patience with me because you know I want to do better. But I misjudged this time. And now they want to build a statue…"

A hand taps him on the middle of the forehead, startling him into looking up and making eye contact, Robin chides him, "Usopp, do you think you have deceived the rest of us regarding your character? How could that be so when you always complain so shamelessly whenever there is danger?"

Usopp freezes and starts to turn red with shame, but Robin continues in a clear, deliberate tone, "I _Knew_ you would come back even if it was only for the tontatta's sake. After all the screaming and running around, that is the choice you make _Every_ time."

Usopp searches her face for a few moments then gives her a wavering smile and tries for an offended tone, "Are you trying to make me feel better or worse here?"

There is some amusement in her voice as she avers, "Just rounding out your perspective."

But Usopp isn't quite ready to let it go, "But still…I put you in danger."

Robin raises an eyebrow at her implied lack of self-determination and Usopp sputters as the gears in his brain try to slam into reverse, "I mean, uh…"

Robin cuts in seriously, "You know what _I_ was thinking when I ran over to check on you after the fight with Sugar and Trebol was over? I was relieved that the foolish mistake that left me disabled hadn't cost you your life." Usopp gapes a little at this, Robin smiles in return, "You're right, it was a mess, but saving Sugar's captives was key to taking down Doflamingo."

Usopp eyes go distant for a moment, then he smiles back and makes a show of straightening himself up, puffing out his chest and crossing his arms in order to indicate he's done making her cheer him up, "It was wasn't it? Although I didn't appreciate it right away (due to the excruciating pain) it was pretty impressive watching all those gladiators go on the rampage once I'd set them free."

He drops his arms to his side, "Still I think the story of my amazing deeds in this latest adventure needs a little balance to it. There's something I want to remember too."

Usopp runs into the house where Gaurish is still packing up and digs his own sketch book out of his bag. After a few minutes of drawing, Usopp invites their visitor back outside to show the man his idea.

The architect examines the sketches, and then glances uncertainly at Usopp to check if he is joking. Gaurish wilts a little at Usopp expectant expression and looks back down at the drawing, "But…,"

The older man struggles between his sense of diplomacy and his sense of aesthetics for a moment, before blurting, "This is going to look absurd next to all the other pieces!"

Usopp sticks his nose up proudly and hits the notebook with the back of his hand declaring, "This is my Special Facial Jack in the Box Attack! The signature move that defeated Sugar and set all those people free! Besides," he continues definitively, "something needs to lighten the mood next to all those intimidating faces. Contrast will make the collection more interesting."

Gaurish looks skeptical, but Usopp just stands there projecting overdone confidence, until the architect ventures reluctantly, "Well God Usopp, if this is really what you want?" Usopp smiles and nods and Gaurish sighs, "then I will respect your wish."

Usopp gives one more affirmative nod before tearing his drawings out and handing them to Gaurish.

The architect places the pages inside his own notebook before walking back to the door of the cabin to take his leave with another half bow, "Thank you all for your time. I hope you all will come back to see the completed work someday."

Those inside say goodbye in return, none unkindly, but with widely varying degrees of courtesy and interest.

* * *

A couple days later Leo zips around Gaurish's worktable inspecting the maquettes that incidentally scale the pirates down to near his own size. He stops in front of the one of Usopp, noticing that it's completely different from the one Gaurish originally created, and inspects it seriously, rubbing his chin before breaking out into a wide grin, "This is perfect Mr. Gaurish!" he shouts excitedly, drawing the architect's attention to where he is pointing, "That's exactly the face he made! Usoland is so clever! His plan went off without a hitch!"

* * *

 **A/N: The architecture of Dressrosa is based of the work of Antoni Gaudi, a man who's style is so distinctive he got his own adjective (gaudy).**

 **Thank you for reading :)**


	3. It's Not Just the Thought That Counts

**It's Not Just the Thought That Counts**

 **Nami knows what matters most.**

 ** _Set after the time skip, but only because of a comment Nami makes. It refers to something I think is rather important that I have not yet seen anyone mention._**

* * *

The palace is shaking from the various individual battles proceeding outside as Nami makes her way through the interior's plain stone corridors. She's managed to avoid the notice of the few groups of guards still scrambling around while she sneaks after Orgulous, this stone pile's owner.

The Strawhats had only come to this island because it lies on the line between their last stop and place to which the eternal pose is pointing them. They had gotten to spend a few hours restocking supplies and enjoying the island's nice weather. But (of course) something was off.

The nervousness of the villagers became increasingly apparent until an incident involving Luffy, an elderly street vendor, her scrappy granddaughter and the local leader's enforcers had brought the whole situation out into the open.

The island had been taken over by a pirate crew that had decided that the entire place would make an excellent retirement village. They had settled in and spent the last few years bullying the locals into building them a plain but absurdly large fortress on the hill overlooking the village.

Their captain, a short, broad man wearing a coat with lots of gold buttons, tassels, and (Nami would swear) shoulder pads, had stood on a balcony overlooking the palace courtyard making the usual declarations regarding his general superiority to the people he's mistreating, until Luffy had signaled the end of his speech by picking up one of the jackass' lieutenants and throwing him through the balcony railing, causing both the dictator and his subordinate to disappear into the building in a cloud of rubble.

Luffy had roared up at the hole in the wall, "You ruined that nice old lady's meat pie stand! I'm gonna punch you the face!"

Usopp had given Luffy a pained look, but before he could protest the lack of a proper dramatic declaration, the lieutenant had burst back into the courtyard and he and his two companions had lead a large group of guards into the fight.

However, their leader had not reappeared.

After a few moments Nami had realized Orgulous must be running away and had used a blast of air from her staff to vault up through the gap in the balcony railing.

She follows the man quietly until he finally stops and presses a wall sconce causing a hidden door to open.

Jack pot! She quietly sidles sideways until she can see into the room, as she hoped it's a treasure room rather than an escape route. The dictator is inside muttering to himself and sweeping valuables off of shelfs into a sack. She moves to the side of the door and starts charging up her staff.

He strides back out of the room and turns to keep heading down the hall with his sack full of gold. Nami levels her staff and releases a lightning bolt into his back. Blinding electricity crackles over the man and the bag, some of it even rebounding into her staff.

Much to her dismay, when the sparks clear the enemy leader appears irritated but, sadly, unharmed. He smirks at her, "Tatata, that stung hussy," he pulls at the lapel of his now charred coat, "and you've ruined my favorite jacket."

Craaap, of course. Of course it wouldn't be that easy. Just because this man threw his subordinates in the way and scurried off in order to save his own hide, she shouldn't have assumed he's weak as well as a coward.

He sneers at her expression and pulls a small pistol from inside his jacket. Ok, it seems like she should be able to deal with that, but there's obviously there's a trick to it. She scoffs, "You're going to kill me with that pea shooter?" She angles her staff in front of her, "I may not be a heavy hitter, but I'm still a Strawhat. Frankly, I'm insulted."

"Tatata, I ate the amp-amp fruit, it allowed me to decrease the damage of your bolt to a mere static shock and it also allows me to do this." He raises the little gun and fires it with a pop.

Nami jumps to the side in a roll at the same moment there is a loud shattering sound and a hole the size of a watermelon is ripped through the _stone_ wall just behind where she had been standing. She gapes for a second.

Ok, screw this.

Nami swirls her staff to create a thick fog obscuring the hallway.

A few moments later she is runs out of the ground level cloud bank with the dictator's treasure bag slung over her shoulder. She sweeps her staff around again to create a series of mirages as she runs back toward the courtyard where she'd last seen most of the crew.

The regular rumbling of buildings being demolished and walls toppled has been slowing, so she supposes the fighting is already mostly over.

Nami weaves and dodges as her mirages are dissipated one by one by bullets passing through them.

She scrambles around a corner and, to her relief, sees her captain standing in the hallway looking back and forth, "Luffy! The guy you're looking for is over here!" Her call is punctuated by the suited man skidding around the corner and firing again.

The bullet hits the rubberman and rebounds into a wall with another explosion. Luffy looks irritated, "Hey coward! Leave my navigator alone!"

Nami ducks and Luffy's fist shoots over her head. A second later look of confusion passes over Luffy's face and she turns to see that Orgulous has Luffy's wrist in his hand. The Amp-amp man whips around and Luffy goes flying over her head, past the dictator and through a wall. Unfortunately, he snags on the bag of treasure on the way over and it follows him through the hole in the wall.

The tyrant starts up with his annoying laugh again, "Tatata," but just as he takes a breath to say something, Luffy's arms shoot back through the hole, grab the blowhard by the sides of the head and yank him backward through the opening.

Nami runs over to look for the bag Luffy made her drop. She groans in frustration when she sees that the gold and jewels have been scattered half way across the courtyard on the other side of the wall.

Orgulous is finishing up his explanation of his devil fruit power, he taunts "…So you see, your attacks can hardly hurt me."

Luffy looks unimpressed, "That's the lamest devil fruit ever."

The dictator puffs up in affront, "Imbecile! My powers have allowed me to overcome normally unbeatable foes with ease!"

"But it's boring," Luffy starts to steam, "and easy to beat too."

The next moment there is a blur and both of them disappear through a new hole in the wall with another loud crash.

Nami jumps down, picks up the sack and starts scooping valuables back into it. As she works she can hear regular crashing, probably Luffy using Orgulous to demolish the rest of the fortress.

Despite the noise, she is so focused on picking up the scattered valuables that she almost doesn't notice when the fighting comes back around to her courtyard.

There is a rapidly approaching roar and Nami looks up to see a wave of debris surging toward her. She has just enough time to duck and cover before there's a blast of wind as the roaring rushes past her.

But there's no pain. She cautiously opens her eyes and looks around.

Zoro is standing with his back to her, facing in the direction the blast had come from. She is in the middle of a clear area spreading out in a cone behind him. He must have cut the explosion.

Zoro looks over his shoulder at her. Nami takes a deep breath to calm her nerves and looks the swordsman in the eye, "Thanks."

She returns to gathering up the scattered jewelry. Orgulous may be a pompous coward but he has good taste. Some of this stuff is really well made. With a little polishing it will fetch a nice price at the next city they come to.

She tsks in annoyance when she comes to the edge of the clear area; the blast tumbled everything into a pile along what remains of one wall of the courtyard. It's going to take _forever_ to find some it now.

Zoro is gaping at her. He looks forward to double check that the fight has moved off, then drops his stance and turns to face her, "Are you insane woman!"

"I often ask myself that same question. Are you going to help me or just stand there being surly?" She heads toward the wall, "I think most of it ended up over here."

Zoro _doesn't_ help her dig, but he doesn't leave either. He just stands there, two swords out, looking impatient while she rummages through broken bits of stone and wood.

A few pieces of jewelry later, he uses some kind of flying slash to disperse another wave of debris. As he swings, the reflection of light off one his blades causes some glimmers within the pile.

"Zoro!" Nami calls out urgently. He turns toward her in alarm, as she continues, "Do that again, I saw something."

The swordsman's jaw clenches, but before he can demand they leave, she cuts him off, "It's gotten quieter. You _Know_ most of the real fighting is done," she raises an eyebrow, "Unless you want to intrude on Luffy's fun?"

Zoro scowls at her. She doesn't understand it, but she knows the Monster Trio has an unspoken, yet firm rule about not breaking into each other's fights.

She matches his impatience with her own, "If you'll just reflect some light over here, I can get the last couple pieces and we can go."

He grumbles, "Greedy witch," but lifts a sword horizontally and angles it back and forth. Nami spots what she's looking for and quickly starts digging again with a grin on her face. Almost done.

Nami doesn't see when an enormous black fist rears out of the rubble of the palace, the knuckles pointed in their direction.

She is just about to reach the last piece when Zoro grabs her by the waist of her skirt and hauls her backward and onto her feet.

"Hey!" she cries, still reaching. Then she looks up and sees an e _ntire tower_ rolling toward them.

Zoro takes a moment to size up the cylinder and then uses several flying slashes to cut a wedge shaped hole in the side near what is currently the top. Nami clutches the bag to her stomach and closes her eyes.

The rumbling grows so loud it almost shakes her off her feet. Through closed eyes she can sense it getting darker and then lighter again. When the vibration fades she slits her eyes open to see that they are standing in the middle of a diamond shaped piece of courtyard that is now raised slightly higher than the ground around them.

Nami drops to her knees and looks for the ornately woven necklace she had been so close to retrieving. She whimpers when she finds it. The piece now more closely resembles gold leaf. Bits of gem powder drift to the ground when she picks it up.

Zoro looks behind him at the wide avenue the tower has created and then crosses his arms, "We're done here."

Nami nods sadly and drops the squished necklace into the bag. She'd just needed one more second!

Zoro takes in her expression and drops his arms to his sides, "You know you can't spend it if you're dead." This is almost a question, as if he's not sure at this point that she is, in fact, aware of this limitation on material wealth.

In response, Nami starts rifling through the contents of the bag to do a quick estimate. She relaxes; this should be enough to cover everything although they are going to have to wait till the next island to trade most of it. This island doesn't receive many visitors, so its people actually prefer barter of useful items over gold.

Zoro immediately becomes suspicious when she looks up and smiles at him, "I'm really glad you stopped getting cut to bits in every battle."

"Uh huh," he agrees warily, waiting for the other shoe to drop.

"It's really cut back on expenses for Chopper's supplies. So," she lifts he bag, and sing-songs, "This should be enough."

Zoro gives her a flat look, which then morphs into cautious curiosity, "Enough for what?"

* * *

 _ **Earlier that day, on the Sunny**_

Nami sits on the floor of her room, her treasure chest unlocked in front of her and the ledger recording her appraisals of the chest's contents flipped open at her side.

Most of the valuables they acquire immediately go back into buying the things they need to survive, but she decided early on that all the particularly well-wrought pieces would be stored in her room. Some things are too valuable to trade away just anywhere. It's best to wait till they can find someone who will truly appreciate them and pay up appropriately.

Sadly, there are only a few jewelry cases contained inside the chest at the moment.

Over time she has been pleased to see that all her crewmates are excellent at creating miracles with only scraps and spare parts.

However, Nami had long been of the opinion that money, like water or food, is only a thing taken for granted by those who have never had to go without it. There are some things that, practically speaking, can only be acquired through trade or theft. On top of that, she is the only one who does much stealing and then only from the navy and other pirates.

Therefore, their money needs to be measured out carefully so they have enough to get what they need when they need it.

But there's a problem right now. Besides the usual expenses, three of her crewmates have come to her at different times gushing over a project that will be, to paraphrase their words, both useful and amazing.

She had questioned each of them hard, not just to evaluate the strength of their plan, but also to test their resolve. If they were going to get access to what little treasure the crew managed to acquire when they were constantly working _for free_ , they had better know what they were doing and be ready to follow through.

None of them had cracked though. Maybe she had finally taught her crewmates something about laying out a proper budgetary proposal. Or maybe she's just getting soft.

It is hard to weigh one necessity or dream against another. And right now it seems impossible.

She could take the decision to the rest of the crew. Tell them the situation. Let each of her crewmates present their case and have them all make a choice.

But that doesn't sit right with her.

She had demanded the responsibility of managing the crew's highly variable resources way back when it was only her, Luffy, and Zoro.

Admitting now that they can't fund all her crewmates' projects feels like a failure on her part. It hurts her pride as the provident one their group.

So, if expenses can't be reduced then assets need to be increased.

The next island has to have stealable treasure on it somewhere.

Nami swears it will be hers.

* * *

 _ **Anyone else notice that Zoro hasn't gotten so much as a scratch on him since the crew got back together?**_


End file.
